Diets, Carbs and Type 1

August, for me, is going to be a fun month of training and diet tweaks. It’s all an experimental process and a interesting one at that. For the past two weeks I have reduced my calorie intake to around 1,600. More if I have a heavy workout. At the moment, after only two weeks (and a couple of cheat meals), I feel much stronger and a lot more comfortable in my own body. An added bonus is that my blood sugars have been great. Not often higher than 8 or below 4mmol. Plus, my TDD of insulin is pretty much the same. The diet has allowed me to have a clearer prediction of how my body will react to certain foods.

When I was first diagnosed, I learned that a lot of diabetics, type 1 and 2, followed low carb diets because it was easier for them. I thought that I would have to do the same and I was upset, not because I thought I couldn’t eat carbohydrates, but because I thought I was have to deprive my body of an excellent source of energy. So, as the months have gone by I have still been eating good carbs, and it turns out I am fine(providing I take insulin) and I am glad I ignored all of this low carb business and stuck to what the doctor told me. For me, I just don’t think it is a realistic lifestyle change. Plus, high fat makes me feel horrible and as a vegetarian; it is hard to find low carb sources of protein. The motto I’m sticking to is “Do your homework on the food you’re going to eat and you use your carb to insulin ratio you will be fine.”

Another thing I have cut from diet is alcohol, not because it’s poison and causes me major hangover issues, but because I can’t control myself around food when I’m drunk. I literally don’t have the willpower to say no to food when I’ve been drinking. When I did drink, carb counting was not an issue as I only really drank vodka / soda and that contains no carbs. It does, however, conatain calories from alcohol and I would much prefer to eat my daily calorie goal rather than drink them.

The idea of this little experiment is for me to lose a few lbs before my holiday, whilst looking at my macro split and learning my about my bodily response to it. Currently, my macro split is at 35% protein, 35% carbs and 30% fat. Fat is lower than the others because after having tried eating a higher fat, lower carb diet, as mentioned earlier I didn’t feel good doing it. Also, 1 gram of fat costs more calories than the others therefore you would have to eat a lot less on a higher fat diet. For example, 1 gram of protein = 4 kcals, 1 gram of carbohydrate is 4 kcals and 1 gram of fat is 9 kcals.

6 COMMENTS

I respect your choice to keep eating as you are. I heard about low carbing as a type 1 over 10 years ago, tried and it simply didn’t work. However, after years of tiring roller coasters, I tried it again last year and am realizing the massive benefits on blood sugar and how I feel overall. My numbers used to go from 60-240 a few times per day, and that’s as someone who had an a1c in the low 6s. Now they go from 70-130 in a typical day but stay around 100 most of the day and I feel like I did 18 years ago before being diagnosed.

Nonetheless, I’m not writing this to convince you of anything. The low carb diet is not easy – it takes work and it’s simply not for everyone. I don’t think I could have stuck to it in my teenage and college years. I think now that I’m older and have tasted all the delicious carbs that life has to offer, I’m probably at the point in life where it now makes sense for me. 🙂